The Pentagon intends to carry out a large-scale reorganization of the US Air Force and Space Forces. The transformation plan was presented at a symposium of the non-governmental Association of the US Air Force and Space Forces (KS).

“All of this (reorganization. -

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) is designed to increase our ability to compete (with potential adversaries. -

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), given the urgency of this issue,” US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said at the event.

Similar plans were reported in the United States back in 2023. Last September, Kendall said the U.S. Air Force and Space Force were beginning to reorganize as they enter an era of great power competition. He clarified then that this work would be carried out by five teams from various command and staff structures.

At the same time, Kendall promised that it was planned to begin reorganization by January 2024, but in early February, the Politico newspaper reported that the Pentagon was only finalizing the preparation of the corresponding plan.

  • US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall

  • AP

  • © Andrew Harnik

The final draft of the changes was presented at the symposium of the US Air Force and Space Forces Association, which opened on February 12. The document contains a total of 24 changes, which took five months to complete.

As follows from the presentation, during the reorganization of the Air Force and the Civil Service it is planned to merge some commands. In particular, a command for advanced developments of space forces will be created within the structure of the Space Forces. This will be the fourth field command of the Space Force, an analogue of the US Air Force Major Commands.

In addition, the Space Force will implement new combat readiness standards and also introduce its own training program. As the US military has noted, until now the Space Force has acted as if space was a favorable environment, but now it is a “contested” environment, which requires different training for soldiers.

“This is a contested area (of fighting. -

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). If we want to successfully accomplish our military missions, we must fight, compete for space and achieve a certain dominance in it if we are going to continue to meet the needs of the joint armed forces,” Chief of Space Operations General Bradley Chance Saltzman said at the symposium.

"Cybernetic Air Force"

As part of the reforms, the U.S. Air Force will also refocus its major commands, "prioritizing combat readiness and consolidating their previously assigned weapons development requirements and functions into a new Integrated Capabilities Command," according to a press release from the Air Force and Space Forces Association.

The new command will be headed by a three-star general. It will report directly to the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Air Force.

  • US Space Force symbols

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  • © Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images / LightRocket

Against this backdrop, cyber and electronic warfare will be elevated to a higher level through the creation of a separate cyber air force that will report directly to the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Air Force. The new unit will be responsible “for cyber, information and electronic warfare at the operational level.” The changes are expected to increase the "prestige and visibility" of the cyber air force.

The integration of fighter and bomber aviation formations into single units will also be carried out and the structures responsible for planning and budgetary processes will be strengthened.

The changes will also affect military education. Thus, the US Air Force Exercise and Training Command will be transformed into a new structure, the purpose of which will be to improve the quality of pilot training.

In addition, a new position will be created for specialists in the cyber and IT fields. This will allow such military personnel to avoid serving in regular officer positions and focus on work in their areas of competence while receiving a competitive salary. As US Air Force General David Alvin noted, the United States Armed Forces now need technical specialists of this kind. In his opinion, these measures will make it possible not only to attract the necessary reinforcements to the troops, but also to retain such people in the Air Force in the future.

The transformation will also affect the way weapons are developed. For these purposes, a new department will be created that will oversee this area and distribute resources. In addition, the Air Force Logistics Command will be reorganized and will receive a new organizational structure.

According to Kendall, none of these changes will entail an increase in funding in the near term, since most of the changes either do not require costs at all or can be financed by reallocating budget funds. 

"Probable direction of conflict"

It is worth noting that all these changes in the Pentagon are explained, among other things, by the alleged threats to the United States from China. According to Kendall, Beijing is building a military that is designed to contain and defeat Washington. This is now the most pressing challenge for the Pentagon, the minister stated.

Kendall added that the risk of conflict with China exists and will only grow over time, so Washington must be prepared for such a development of events now. In his opinion, changes in the organization of the US Air Force and the US Forces are long overdue.

“We don’t have any more time,” Kendall concluded.

  • US military aviation

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Michael Ho Wai Lee / Keystone Press Agency

As Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notes, over the past 20 years, the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) has really come a long way in military-technical development and weapons and can compete with the United States.

“The PLA received fifth-generation fighter-bombers of its own production and other modern weapons. There are various scenarios for a possible military clash between China and the United States. In the event of such a development of events, the Americans will suffer losses that they have not seen since the war in the Pacific with Japan in 1941-1945. So the concern of the American military is quite understandable,” the analyst said in a commentary to RT.

In turn, Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian-Political Studies, believes that the United States itself is imposing military-technical competition and confrontation in the Pacific Ocean on China, so the Pentagon’s concerns about the military power of the PLA sound absurd.

“China is developing the PLA thousands of kilometers from the United States and does not pose any threat to them. However, the United States positions itself as a global superpower and believes that it can intervene anywhere in the world. Therefore, the PLA even in China interferes with them. Let's imagine a situation where Chinese naval vessels were constantly located near the West Coast of the United States, while claiming that Washington's retaliatory actions threaten Beijing. This is roughly what the situation looks like today from the PRC’s point of view,” the specialist said in a conversation with RT.

Analysts believe that changes in the US Air Force and Space Force are being carried out, among other things, in light of a possible conflict over Taiwan.

“Taiwan is the most likely direction of conflict between China and the United States. At least that’s what they think in Washington,” says Vladimir Batyuk.

At the same time, experts are confident that large-scale transformations in the Pentagon cannot be taken as evidence of the weakness of the US Armed Forces.

“The Pentagon is not experiencing any special problems, it’s just that the States like to carry out reorganizations. In addition, such plans may allow additional funds to be squeezed out of the budget. Another important factor is changes in the military-technical field. The SVO has already shown that the nature of combat operations is changing, for example, the role of unmanned aircraft is increasing. Perhaps the Pentagon is thinking about adapting the Air Force and Space Forces to new technological realities,” concluded Vladimir Bruter.